Devastating attacks hit Damascus and Homs
after US says "provisional agreement" reached
with Russia on ceasefire.
A series of suicide bombs near a Shia shrine in
Damascus and in Homs have killed at least 129
people on a day the US and Russia claimed
progress in securing a ceasefire to end the
Syrian conflict.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
group, which has seized territory in Syria and
Iraq, claimed it was behind Sunday's attacks,
which killed at least 63 in Damascus and 46 in
Homs.
Some sources put the death toll higher.
SANA, the official government news agency, said
a car bomb followed by two suicide attacks in
the area of Sayyida Zeinab shrine killed 83 people
and left 178 others, including children, wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a
lower toll of 63 dead but said many of those
wounded were in critical condition.
At least 60 shops were damaged and cars totally
destroyed, the AFP news agency reported.
At the end of January, bombings claimed by ISIL
killed at least 70 people near the same shrine.
Sayyida Zeinab is believed to contain the grave of
a granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad and is
particularly revered as a pilgrimage site by Shia
faithful.
Homs double bombing
The blasts in Damascus came just hours after
dozens of civilians were killed in a double car
bombing in the central city of Homs.
SANA said the attack happened near the entrance
to al-Arman neighbourhood, with the Syrian
foreign ministry saying that at least 46
people died and dozens were wounded.
The Syrian Observatory reported that two car
bombs killed at least 57 people and wounded
dozens in Homs' pro-government district of Al-
Zahraa.
Residents of the area are mostly from the same
Alawite sect of Shia Islam as Syria's ruling clan.
Homs is largely under government control and
has regularly been targeted in bomb attacks.
The violence on the ground in Syria came on a
day the US secretary of state said a "provisional
agreement" had been reached on a ceasefire to
end the ongoing war.
John Kerry, speaking in Amman alongside
Nasser Judeh, Jordan's foreign minister, said he
had spoken earlier that morning with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about the
agreement.
Now, he said, both the US and Russia planned to
reach out to the various sides of the conflict.
Kerry said he hoped President Barack Obama
and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk
soon and implementation could begin after that.
He said the details such as enforcement still
needed to be resolved, and that the international
community was "closer to a ceasefire today than
we have been".
The Russian foreign ministry confirmed that
Lavrov and Kerry had spoken about conditions
for a ceasefire in Syria on the telephone on
Sunday.
It said the discussions were on ceasefire
conditions, which would exclude operations
against organisations "recognised as terrorist by
UN Security Council".
On Saturday, a number of Syrian opposition
groups declared that they agree to the
"possibility" of a temporary truce if President
Bashar al-Assad's government and its allies
respect several conditions, including halting fire.
The groups said they would agree provided there
were guarantees that government forces and its
allies would respect a ceasefire, sieges were
lifted and aid deliveries permitted across the
country.
The declaration came as fighting continued on the
ground despite a Friday deadline for cessation of
hostilities.
The opposition factions "expressed agreement on
the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal,
to be reached through international mediation", a
statement from the High Negotiations Committee
said.
In depth: The politics of war crimes in Syria
It said the UN must guarantee "holding Russia
and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to
fighting".
All sides should cease fire simultaneously and
the government should release prisoners, the
statement said.
For his part, Assad said in an interview with
Spanish newspaper El Pais on Saturday that he
was ready to implement a ceasefire but only if
the rebels and their international backers such as
Turkey did not use it as a chance to gain ground.
The fighting in Syria started as an unarmed
uprising against Assad in March 2011, but has
since expanded into a full-on conflict that has
killed more than 260,000 people, according to UN
estimates.
Millions more have been displaced, having fled to
neighbouring countries and Europe.
Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus is believed to
contain the grave of a granddaughter of Prophet
Muhammad by Shia faithful [AP]
after US says "provisional agreement" reached
with Russia on ceasefire.
A series of suicide bombs near a Shia shrine in
Damascus and in Homs have killed at least 129
people on a day the US and Russia claimed
progress in securing a ceasefire to end the
Syrian conflict.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
group, which has seized territory in Syria and
Iraq, claimed it was behind Sunday's attacks,
which killed at least 63 in Damascus and 46 in
Homs.
Some sources put the death toll higher.
SANA, the official government news agency, said
a car bomb followed by two suicide attacks in
the area of Sayyida Zeinab shrine killed 83 people
and left 178 others, including children, wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a
lower toll of 63 dead but said many of those
wounded were in critical condition.
At least 60 shops were damaged and cars totally
destroyed, the AFP news agency reported.
At the end of January, bombings claimed by ISIL
killed at least 70 people near the same shrine.
Sayyida Zeinab is believed to contain the grave of
a granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad and is
particularly revered as a pilgrimage site by Shia
faithful.
Homs double bombing
The blasts in Damascus came just hours after
dozens of civilians were killed in a double car
bombing in the central city of Homs.
SANA said the attack happened near the entrance
to al-Arman neighbourhood, with the Syrian
foreign ministry saying that at least 46
people died and dozens were wounded.
The Syrian Observatory reported that two car
bombs killed at least 57 people and wounded
dozens in Homs' pro-government district of Al-
Zahraa.
Residents of the area are mostly from the same
Alawite sect of Shia Islam as Syria's ruling clan.
Homs is largely under government control and
has regularly been targeted in bomb attacks.
The violence on the ground in Syria came on a
day the US secretary of state said a "provisional
agreement" had been reached on a ceasefire to
end the ongoing war.
John Kerry, speaking in Amman alongside
Nasser Judeh, Jordan's foreign minister, said he
had spoken earlier that morning with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about the
agreement.
Now, he said, both the US and Russia planned to
reach out to the various sides of the conflict.
Kerry said he hoped President Barack Obama
and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk
soon and implementation could begin after that.
He said the details such as enforcement still
needed to be resolved, and that the international
community was "closer to a ceasefire today than
we have been".
The Russian foreign ministry confirmed that
Lavrov and Kerry had spoken about conditions
for a ceasefire in Syria on the telephone on
Sunday.
It said the discussions were on ceasefire
conditions, which would exclude operations
against organisations "recognised as terrorist by
UN Security Council".
On Saturday, a number of Syrian opposition
groups declared that they agree to the
"possibility" of a temporary truce if President
Bashar al-Assad's government and its allies
respect several conditions, including halting fire.
The groups said they would agree provided there
were guarantees that government forces and its
allies would respect a ceasefire, sieges were
lifted and aid deliveries permitted across the
country.
The declaration came as fighting continued on the
ground despite a Friday deadline for cessation of
hostilities.
The opposition factions "expressed agreement on
the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal,
to be reached through international mediation", a
statement from the High Negotiations Committee
said.
In depth: The politics of war crimes in Syria
It said the UN must guarantee "holding Russia
and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to
fighting".
All sides should cease fire simultaneously and
the government should release prisoners, the
statement said.
For his part, Assad said in an interview with
Spanish newspaper El Pais on Saturday that he
was ready to implement a ceasefire but only if
the rebels and their international backers such as
Turkey did not use it as a chance to gain ground.
The fighting in Syria started as an unarmed
uprising against Assad in March 2011, but has
since expanded into a full-on conflict that has
killed more than 260,000 people, according to UN
estimates.
Millions more have been displaced, having fled to
neighbouring countries and Europe.
Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus is believed to
contain the grave of a granddaughter of Prophet
Muhammad by Shia faithful [AP]
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